Pouch device built into a scarf for insertion and concealment of a face mask

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure discloses a scarf with a pouch designed to accommodate commercially available face masks. The scarf and the pouch are made of fabric and the pouch is situated on the reverse side of the scarf at the top edge in the center of the scarf. The top and bottom edges of the pouch are sewn into place on the scarf with openings on the left and right sides of the pouch where the facemask can be inserted and securely held in place. The pouch can accommodate various types of commercially available facemasks and allows for facemask be inserted and removed in accordance with the wearers&#39; preference. The scarf is an aesthetically pleasing and fashionable way for wearers to wear a face mask in a concealed manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The poor air quality in many urban and other areas in the world in addition to the prevalence of many airborne pathogens make the use of a facemasks by the general public increasingly commonplace and necessary.

Recently the global pandemic caused by Covid-19, in addition to numerous other illness caused by airborne pathogens has had detrimental effects on the safety and wellbeing of the public. In addition, the air quality in many urban areas has been steadily declining with the general public being more susceptible to a variety of health concerns.

There are a number of products available in the market that have been designed to provide protection from airborne pathogens and particulates. Medical and surgical masks, activated carbon based facemasks and many other facemasks with a variety of filtration technology all provide excellent protection against airborne pathogens and particulates.

While the efficacy of these facemasks in addressing these issues are excellent, most of these products are quite aesthetically unappealing and this is a deterrent to people using them as they may feel there is social stigma attached to the wearing of facemasks. Even with the global pandemic caused by Covid-19 and the recommendation to wear facemasks in crowded public areas, it is still common for members of the public to fail to do so because they feel there is a social stigma attached to wearing such a facemask.

In order to address this drawback, it would be desirable to provide the general public with a garment commonly worn to cover someone's face and neck, such as a scarf, in which a facemask, already tested for the purpose the wearer requires, can be securely concealed so that the wearer can reap the benefits to their health from wearing the facemask in a fashionable and convenient manner.

A number of scarfs incorporating face masks are currently available in the market in addition to patents and patent applications relating to such scarves incorporating facemasks.

These masks typically involve a scarf incorporating a non-detachable and non-interchangeable face mask. The disadvantage of this is that users are restricted to the particular features of the built-in mask and cannot choose to utilize the facemask of their choice for the purpose for which they require the facemask.

Examples of prior art which incorporate facemask into a scarf include the disclosures of CN103734949 from Wujiand Beisheng Textile Co. Ltd. and CN202019797U from Wang Haiyan, both of which describe a scarf with a mask where the mask is firmly fixed to the scarf and not detachable or interchangeable. Further, these garments are intended for the purpose of providing warmth to the wearers and not for any other purpose.

There are also some scarves and other garments incorporating face masks where the face mask or a portion of it is detachable. The disadvantage of this is that users must use the mask or portion of the mask provided with the scarf and cannot choose to utilize the facemask of their choice for the purpose for which they require the facemask.

Examples of prior art where the mask or a portion of it can be detached from the rest of the scarf include the disclosures of CN103211332A from Wang Hong which describes a multifunctional scarf with ear muffs and a removeable mask, however the detachable mask is exclusively used with the scarf and another mask cannot be substituted. Examples of prior art which where a portion of the mask can be detached include disclosures of U.S. Pat. No. 9,661,884 from Shireen Noelle Yarahmadi, which describes a mask garment that conceals a respiratory filter made up of various types of fabric to provide the filtration required to protect the wearer from airborne particulates. However, this garment is not a scarf and when worn as a mask does not resemble a scarf. Furthermore, this disclosure is a facemask itself and not a device within which a facemask is concealed.

When using these garments, a wearer will be limited to using the masks and respiratory filters provided with the garment. A wearer would therefore not be able to conceal all types of facemasks already widely available in the market in a discrete and fashionable manner. The wearer cannot insert a face mask of their choosing securely into the garment.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure provides a fashionable scarf, commonly used by the general public and that will not attract undue attention when worn in public, in which various types of facemasks currently available in the market can be securely concealed. Further, wearers can replace the facemasks as frequently as desired or as recommended by the manufacturers of the facemask.

The present disclosure provides what appears to be a regular scarf that by way of design and fabric applications, conceals the wearing of a facemask in public eliminating any social stigma or aesthetic drawbacks, and thereby increases the likelihood of the wearer utilizing facemasks as a way of promoting their health and wellbeing.

It is therefore an advantage of the present disclosure to provide scarf garment that provides a pouch for the secure insertion of commercially available facemasks.

It is therefore an object and advantage of the present disclosure to provide a scarf garment that is fashionably appealing.

It is another object and advantage of the present disclosure is to provide a scarf garment that when not being used to wear a concealed facemask can be easily draped around the wearers neck and shoulders.

Yet still, another object and advantage of the present disclosure is a scarf garment that is durable, washable, and dryable and that can accommodate a facemask that can be removed and inserted as required when the garment is being cleaned.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned and other objects and advantages of the present disclosure, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the disclosure itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of non-limiting embodiments of the disclosure taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale; instead, emphasis has been placed upon illustrating the principles of the disclosure. In addition, in the embodiments depicted herein, like reference numerals in the various drawings refer to identical or near identical structural elements.

FIG. 1 is a plain view of the reverse side of the scarf disclosed that contains the pouch for secure insertion of a facemask illustrating the components that make up the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of FIG. 1 depicting the obverse side of the scarf disclosed.

FIG. 3 is a magnified plain view of the obverse side of the pouch section for secure insertion of a facemask illustrating the visible components that make up the disclosure and illustrates how the facemask is inserted into the pouch.

FIG. 4 is a view of the reverse side of the scarf underneath the pouch flap and illustrates the mechanism by which the facemask is secured in place.

FIG. 5 is a view of the reverse side of the pouch flap and illustrates the mechanism by which the facemask is secured in place.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the description of the present disclosure, one or more examples of which are shown in FIGS. 1 to 5. Each example is provided to explain the subject matter and not a limitation. Various changes and modifications obvious to one skilled in the art to which the disclosure pertains are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the disclosure.

The present disclosure overcomes the drawbacks of wearing facemasks in public. The present disclosure discloses a pouch style device incorporated into a scarf that facilitates a wearer to insert a facemask from any commercial provider of facemasks thereby enabling wearer to conceal the face mask by giving the appearance that it is part of the scarf.

The wearer is required to buy commercially available facemasks and simply insert said facemask into the pouch in the scarf, secure it into place using the fastening device (including buttons and hook and loop fasteners) sewn into the pouch, wear the facemask in accordance with manufacturers' instructions and drape the scarf to the wearers desire.

FIG. 1 is a plain view of the reverse side of the scarf disclosed that contains the pouch for secure insertion of a facemask. A scarf (1) approximately 6 feet long and 11 inches wide (width and lengthen can vary) which on the reverse side of the scarf has a pouch (2) approximately 9 inches by 6 inches (width and length can vary) that is positioned in the middle top edge of the scarf garment and into which a commercially available facemask can be placed inside the pouch with the ear loops or tie fasteners (3) of the facemask outside the pouch for use in securing the face mask on the wearers' face.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of FIG. 1 depicting the obverse side of the scarf disclosed. Showing the side of the scarf that will be visible to anyone looking at the wearer, where the appearance is that of an ordinary scarf where the pouch and the facemask are not visible.

FIG. 3 is a magnified plain view of the obverse side of the pouch section for secure insertion of a facemask. The pouch (2) is sewn to the scarf right along the top (5) and bottom (6) edges of the pouch. The left (7) and right (8) edges of the pouch are not permanently attached to the scarf to provide openings that allow for the insertion of the commercially procured facemask as depicted (4) from either the left (7) or right (8) openings.

FIG. 4 is a view of the reverse side scarf underneath the pouch flap and illustrates the mechanism by which the facemask is secured in place. The reverse side of the scarf will have a fastening device (including buttons and hook and loop fasteners) sewn into place under the left and right edges (9) of where the pouch flap will be placed at an approximate point where the right and left edges of the pouch flap is will be affixed.

FIG. 5 is a view of the reverse side of the pouch flap. The reverse side of the pouch flap (10) will have a fastening device (including buttons and hook and loop fasteners) sewn into place under the left and right edges (11) that will align with the fastening device (including buttons and hook and loop fasteners) on the scarf (9) so that the left (7) and right (8) edges of the pouch flap can secure the face mask in place within the pouch of the scarf with the ear loops or tie fasteners (3) outside the pouch for use in securing the face mask on the wearers' face. 

1. A scarf garment for a wearer compromising pouch flap on the reverse side of the scarf garment placed in the middle top edge of the scarf garment and sewn onto the scarf garment at the top and bottom edges of the pouch flap with two openings on the right and left edges of the pouch flap where the pouch flap has an obverse side and a reverse side, the reverse side having fastening device (including buttons and hook and loop fasteners)on the right and left edges of the pouch flap that can be affixed to a fastening device (including buttons and hook and loop fasteners) on the reverse side of the scarf garment covered by the pouch flap at an approximate point where the right and left edges of the pouch flap is affixed to the scarf to provide a secure placement of a commercially available facemask. 